After breaking my ankle earlier in the year and then getting married I’ve had a quite the break from the 9th Age. Well, I’ve finally been able to attend a tournament in what feels like forever! So it was time to shake off the rust and attend Breakthrough 2018. I’ve not played as much 2.0 as I would have liked in the last few months as I’ve just been super busy with real life stuff sadly so it was nice to get myself back into it. For this tournament I was going to use my Kingdom of Equitaine, one of my favourite armies that I have been pushing around now for a couple of decades. The Knights in shining armour and the bright multi coloured heraldry always appealed to me as a fan of history and as a painter so I think that’s why I’ve stuck with them for so long.

I only had a few practice games using a variety of different lists and unfortunately the list entry deadline crept up on me and I ended up just submitting one of my practice lists, a decision I would come to regret.

There’s a few odd choices in there but there was method to my madness (well some anyway). The Duke build is far from optimal, I wanted a precision missile that could pick and choose his targets and then devastate them. The Virtue of Audacity and Divine Judgement should make him the king of slaying monsters, with rerolls to hit against large models and rerolls to wound against towering presence whilst doing D3+1 wounds on the charge there isn’t a monster alive that could withstand that charge. I took the Grail Oath with the mistaken belief that that would give him Divine Attacks, sadly it does not but I only realised that too late. The Faith of Percival was there to keep him alive from cannon balls and the Basalt Infusion will help him survive from those pesky Flaming cannon balls!

The Paladin is nothing special, he has a 1+ re rollable Armour Save and he’s just going in with the Questing Knights.

I picked Shamanism for the Damsel as I’d tried the other lores and found them somewhat lacking. Druidism is just too high a casting value for the good spells and I always found myself just never getting any spells off. I like Divination but found the range for the spells to be too short. So Shamanism it was for me, I was particularly looking forward to bringing on some Totemic Beasts!

I like big knight blocks which explains my choice of cavalry. I thought I’d try out the Oriflamme for the Questing Knights just to see how it fairs, on paper it sounds good but I’ve not heard great things. The Banner of the Last Charge on a big unit of Knights of the realm is a must and 2 units of 5 Knights Aspirant would probably be better than a unit of 10 but I like big units. I’m running them 5 wide so maximise on the +1 Attack on the charge.

The Crossbows are there purely so that I had an excuse to paint my old Marksmen of Miragliano models that I’ve had knocking about for ages. Now that KoE can take Crossbows I had to bring a unit of them to the party. The Brigands and the Yeomen are the chaff, I don’t have high hopes for them, just hope they die a glorious death.

I’ve taken 5 Pegasus Knights as a bunker for the Duke when there’s Warmachines or dangerous magic knocking about. I always find Pegasus Knights to be one of those units that people hate to fight against because they’re so manoeuvrable and hard to catch but I always found them to be expensive and a liability but we’ll see how they fair.

Anyway, for Game 1 I was drawn against Saurian Ancients and an army that is going to completely shut down the speed of my Knights as there is so many flying units they’re will be nowhere to hide.

There’s 3 things in this list that absolutely terrify me, the Cuatl Lord on Alchemy, The Alpha Carnosaur and the Rhamphodon Riders. The Cuatl Lord on Alchemy is going to be melting knights like there’s no tomorrow and with the Engine of the Gods and the Skink Priest he’s going to have the whole battlefield covered. The Alpha Carnosaur should be a nice trophy for my Duke but with the Alpha Carnosaur’s Apex Predator rule (+2” to Charge Range against Flying models) The Alpha has a bigger Charge Range than my Duke now and the main downfall of my duke is that if he doesn’t charge, he dies! Rhamphodons appear to have average stats but they are not to be taken lightly, they can tear through knights through sheer volume of attacks and if buffed right they can kill me very quickly. With a 3+ Armour Save and Hard target they will be difficult for my shooting to have any effect on them.

Going into this I already felt like I couldn’t win this without some huge luck. My opponent is never going to let me get near the Cuatl lord and he is just going to blast me apart with magic from afar and I’ll probably just end up chasing my tail trying to get t grips with the flyers. I’m hoping for a small loss, I think that’s the best I can get out of this.

They do the roll for the deployment and scenario and it’s Marching Columns (not one I’ve played before) and the scenario is Breakthrough! An excellent scenario for me so I’m now feeling a little more optimistic, if I can stop my opponents scoring units and somehowhave enough units left to get in his deployment zone I may be doing ok.

We take turns deploying and near the end my opponent drops all of his army giving him +3 to go first. We end up deploying as shown below.

(Apologies for some of the blurring on the pics. My Phone is too fancy for it's own good and i haven't figured out how to switch it off!)

My Crossbows in the center and the knights spaced apart in the hopes that eith the KotR or the Aspirants can get through to the otherside unmolested. I plan on keeping the Pegs at the rear to try and protect my deployment zone and keep as far away from the Carnosaur as I can. The Rhamphodons pick the Questing Knights and Knight of the Realm as their targets for their extra attacks.

For Magic I pick Awaken the Beast, Totemic Summon, Break the Spirit and Breath of the Lady. Hoping that Totemic summon will be able to hold up a scoring unit for a couple of turns. Break the Spirit to slow them down a bit and the other two spells to keep my units alive a bit longer.

With Vanguards I move my left hand Yeomen back towards my lines and run the right hand ones out to stop my opponents vanguard but they’re so quick anyway it doesn’t particularly bother him and they all move forward except the right hand Rhamphodons which dart to the centre.

The Pteradons on the right fly over the Yeoman Outriders, drop their rocks and fly back behind the woods. The Rocks kill 3 Yeomen, the unit fails it panic test and flees 8”. The other Pteradon unit, thanks to their vanguard, are able to fly into the woods, drop their rocks on the Brigands and move so that they are out of everyone’s LoS, bad placement on my part but I never even imagined they could move that distance in one turn!. The rocks kill 2 Brigands. As long as they’re only killing peasants I don’t mind that much, that’s what they’re there for.

The rest of the army shifts to the left of the board, ready to push down my left flank. The Rhamphodons are already on my flank as well and that’s not good.

The Rhamphodons on my flank are going to be a big nuisance so I decide to move the Knights Aspirant up to try and force the Rhamphodons to charge, I’ll then happily flee that one, hopefully leaving them stuck in the open. I fly the Pegasus Knights to right ready to face Rhamphodons if they do charge. I swing the Brigands around the side of Pteradoins so I can shoot them. The Questing knight swheel round to face the Saurians and the Knight of the Realm move up the right hand side to threaten the Saurain Warriors, I’m sure they going to get chaffed up by the Pteradons but at least I’ll kill them. Then I can hope the Saurian Warriors can’t make it in or that I hold until reinforcements arrive.

The fleeingYeomen rally and the other unit darts round the side of the Rhamphodons, hoping to pop a wound off if I’m lucky.

For the Magic Phase I get the 8 card, just when I don’t really want it as my spell options are limited. I cast Awaken the Beast on the Knights Aspirant but my opponent dispels it. I cast Break the Spirit on the Carnosaur Lord and my opponent lets it through, I’m just hoping to slow it down to keep my Pegasus Knights safe for a turn. I try to cast Totemic Summon but I fail. I carry over 3 Veil Tokens as well for when I really need them.

In shooting the Crossbows miss the Pteradons furthest away. The Yeomen fail to hit the Rhamphodons but the Brigands score a wound on the Pteradons in the wood.

The Rhamphodons fail their frenzy check and charge the Knights Aspirant who I flee with, the Rhamphodons fail to redirect and only move 4”, I was hoping for a bit further. 1 Knight Apsirant dies to a dangerous Terrain test from the wood.

The Carnosaur decides to march anyway despite Break the Spirit and marches closer to the Pegasus Knights, he fails 2 of his Dangerous Terrain tests and takes 2 wounds! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t LOL at that! The Pteradons on the right dive in front of the Knight of the Realm as expected and the Saurian Warriors move up ready to charge them next turn. The rest of the army moves cautiously to the centre and the Saurian Warriors on the left march down the left flank.

The Pteradons in my deployment reform one deep and fly to face the flank of the Brigands. Again, as long as they’re killing Peasants I don’t care.

With the closeness of the Carnosaur I can no longer risk charging the Pegasus Knights into the Rhamphodon as the Carnosaur will easily be able to charge me if I don’t get a overrun. However there is one play that can still work. If I charge the Duke out on his own he can touch the Rhamphodons and still be hidden from sight of the Carnosaur because he’ll be behind the hill. I take the risk and declare that charge. It’s a 16” charge so I need an 8, i should get it….. I don’t, I fail the charge and only go 4 “. The Carnosaur is still 20” away from my Duke so he needs an 11 to make it, I should be safe.

The Knight of the Realm charge the Pteradons.

I know unveil my other cunning plan, I rally the Knights Aspirant and move the Brigands back in the woods, now the Questing Knights can reform and move 7” towards the right hand flank to help the Knights of the Realm next turn. As the Questing Knights are only a 4+ Armour Save now, they’re too weak to fight any of Saurian units so I’m just hoping to get both the big knight blocks in my opponents deployment zone and leave them there. The Crossbows wheel around to shoot at the Pteradons.

In the Magic Phase I get the 3 card. I cast Awaken the Beast on the Knights Aspirant to boost their resilience and my opponent lets it through. I then cast Totmeic Summon and my opponent lets that through too! I bring on the Totemic beast behind the Skink Braves with the Cuatl Lord. I have no intention of killing him because I know he’ll jump out the unit. The Totemic Beast has a better chance of killing Skinks and not being killed that he does against Saurian Warriors. So I can at least stop the Skinks from scoring, maybe kill them if I’m lucky! I try to cast Break the Spirit on the Saurians on the right but my opponent dispels it.

The Engine of the Gods declares a charge at the Knights Aspirant which I flee from, I’m not taking that, they’ll die so easily. The Engine then redirects into the Brigands who also flee, I don’t want the Engine anywhere near my lines thanks so hoping he’ll just stay where is he is. After the Brigands flee the Pteradons then declare a charge against the Brigands which I flee from again and now they’re a lot closer to the Engine and it easily makes it into them, killing them and it’s now in the woods.

The Saurian Warriors charge the Knight of the Realm and I’m fairly optimistic that I can take this charge, I should only lose a Knight or two if my armour works.

The Carnosaur Lord can’t resist the charge into my Duke so declares that one and the Rhamphodon declare a charge into the Duke as well. The Carno needs an 11 to do it and rolls a double 6! F**k! The Carnosaur makes his epic 20” charge showing my Duke how to actually make charges, the Rhamphodon come in to and it’s pretty safe to say the Duke is a goner!

The Cuatl Lord leaves Skinks and jumps into the Saurian Warriors in the centre, the skinks reform to face the Totemic Beast. The Saurian Warriors on the left run down the left flank and the Rhamphodons move to face the Questing Knights.

For the Magic my opponent gets the big 8 card, not what I wanted. The Cuatl casts Corruption of Tin on my Duke, I try to stop it as there is still a chance he might survive if the Carnosaur fluffs but I fail to dispel. He then casts Word of Iron on the Carnosaur and I let it through, I’m never gonna wound him anyway so I let it through. I dispel all the Magic missiles coming my way too.

The Rhamphodons shoot at the Questing knights and kill one, after that it’s straight combat.

We’ll start off with the small one first and the Saurian Warriors are able to kill 3 Knight of the Realm, I manage to kill 1 Saurian Warrior meaning i have one more rank than my opponent so I’m steadfast and I pass the break test.

Onto the main event and I issue a challenge with the Duke as I don’t want the Rhamphodons to add to the damage coming my way. The Impact Hits fail to get a wound pass my Ward Save. As expected my Lord fails to wound the Carnosaur and the Saurian Warlord does 2 wounds to my Duke but the Carnosaur fails to do any so my Duke is still alive. I’ve lost combat by 5 though and need a 4 to pass the break test, I fail it and flee. The Rhamphodons pursue, catch my Duke and go off the board. I pretty much expected that once the Carnosaur made it’s charge but it still hurts.

I fly the Pegasus knights to the left hoping to stop the Saurian Warriors on the left from scoring. I rally the Knights Aspirants. I move the Yeoman in front of the Carnosaur to chaff him up for a turn. The Crossbows have to move a bit to be able to see the Rhamphodons so I can shoot at them.

The Crossbows shoot at the Rhamphodons and do 1 wound, better than nothing!

In combat I decide to use the bastard swords of the Questing Knights as light lances so I can attack first. The Questing knights kill 5 Saurina Warriors, I was hoping for better to be honest. The Saurian Warriors then attack the Knights of the Realm with 15 attacks and score 11 wounds! I fail 5 armour saves and Ward saves and 5 Knights die, that wasn’t supposed to happen! The Knights of the realm do no wounds in return. I still win combat and the Saurian Warriors break. I decide it’s better to get them to flee from the Questing Knights to egt them off the board, I pursue with the Knights of the Realm. The Saurian Warriors go off the board but the Knights don’t go far enough and stay on the board. I reform the Questing Knights to face the inevitable charge of the Rhamphodons. I still think that was the best move, if the Saurains ran away from the Realm Knights and I pursued with the Questing Knights, I may have been further away but then the Rhamphodons would have had a flank charge.

The Totemic Beast Kills 2 skinks in combat and I then use my breath weapon, with the 2 D6 I roll two 1s…. and to wound with the 2 hits I then roll two 1s again!. The skinks fail to wound the Totemic Beast but the Skinks are steadfast and near their Lord so they stick. Was hoping for a bit better than that!

The Carnosaur charges the Yeomen Outriders and I pass the Terror check. The Rhamphodons charge the Questing Knights and I’m fairly confident we will win eventually but I just hope there’s still enough knights left at the end to score the objective.

The Pteradons move in front of the Knights Aspirant, chaffing them up for a turn. The Cutal Lord’s unit move forward to try and get to the deployment zone. The skink Priest leaves the Saurian Warriors and moves to face the right of the board and is out of range of the Crossbows. The Engine moves to face the Questing Knights. The Saurian Warriors on the left stay hidden behind the hill so that the Pegasus Knights can’t charge them. The other unit of Rhamphodons come on the board.

The Magic phase is a 4 card so pretty average. The only spell my opponent gets off is Awaken the Beast on the Rhamphodons to give the +1 Strength.

The Rhamphodons go to town on the Questing Knights and kill 5 of them, that hurts a lot! The Questing Knights swing back and do 4 wounds, killing 2 of the Rhamphodon. The combat ends in a draw and we stick. I’m hoping after the charge I’ll be better and I have a magic phase to try and get a buff or 2 off.

The totemic Beast kills 2 more Skinks but takes no wounds in return, the Skinks stick as they’re steadfast.

In the Magic Phase I get the 7 card and I’m able to cast Awaken the Beast for +1 Resilience on the Questing Knights as well a Breath of The Lady on the Questing Knights. With those two buffs I ‘m hoping I can keep my remaining 3 knights alive.

The Crossbowmen shoot at the Carnosaur and get a wound on him, he’s down to 3 now, a couple more and I’m getting half points at least.

In combat the Knights Aspirant easily kill the Pteradons and have to overrun , going 9”, I didn’t want to go that far really!

The Totemic Beast kills 3 skinks this round leaving 8 in the unit so they are still steadfast. They do no wounds to the beast but pass their break test.

Onto the big fight and the Rhamphodons go first and despite being Resilience 4 and rerolling 1s for my Armour save they are able to kill the last 3 knights in the unit. The -2 to their armour from the Corruption of Tin has really hurt them as I only have a 6+ against the Rhamphodons. The BSB and wizardswing back and do 4 wounds! Leaving the unit alive with 1 model on 1 wound. I win combat and the Rhamphodons break, I decide to pursue and try and get those points but I fail to catch them and I’m an inch short but I’m out of Line of Sight of the Engine at least.

The Engine of the Gods charges the Knight Aspirants and for the third time this game they flee! They have to flee through the impassable terrain and 4 of the unit die leaving 2, now they’re on half discipline to rally.

The Cuatl Lord leaves his Saurian Warrior unit and hides behind them so I can’t charge him. It’s so obvious I have no idea what I was thinking, I blame the rust. The Skink Priest moves towards the Knights of the Realm. The Rhamphodon that fled from the Questing Knights rallies so it’s a nice simple decision for what to do with my BSB next turn.

The Saurian Warriors kill the Yeoman easily and overrun 8” and are in my deployment. Due to the bad positioning of my Pegasus Knights they can’t see the Saurian Warriors. We were well behind time now so I was having to rush through these last few turns so I that probably didn’t help with how I played in these last two turns.

The Rhamphodons kill 8 Crossbowmen who do nothing in return, they break and flee but the Rhamphodons easily catch them.

The Totemic Beast now kills 3 Skinks this turn and there’s only 5 remaining so sadly they’re still steadfast but next turn they’re mine! The skinks fail to wound the Beast again and we stick.

We are well past the finish time now so this is going to be the last turn. There’s not a whole lot left for me this turn so I charge the Pegasus Knights into the Saurian Ancients in the centre, might get lucky. I charge the BSB and Damsel into the Rhamphodon to kill that git and get some points at least. The Knights Aspirant fail to rally and flee, giving away all their points.

Magic is a non event with everything failing or being dispelled, so we go to combat. The BSB kills the Rhamphodon before it can strike.

The Totemic Beast is only able to kill a single Skink this round but again takes no wounds in return, that Resilience of 5 is proving too tough for the skinks. They are finally no longer steadfast so maybe they’ll run away at last. They don’t, they stick as the Cuatl Lord is still in range, just.

The game ends at Turn 5 which is lucky for me I guess. It is a 15 -5 loss as no one got the objective, I’ll take that, I was expecting worse after the way turn 3 went. I don’t think I played particularly badly (there’s worse to come) at the beginning, I could have deployed better but the deployment type threw me somewhat. Turns 4 and 5 I played badly, particularly with the Pegasus Knights and the Yeomen, I could have done something better there to stop my opponent from scoring.

I was completely outplayed by the fliers though, I had no way of dealing with them, I thought my shooting might help but they’re so quick that my Crossbows were useless where I placed them, they should have sat in a corner and created a nice killing zone.

The game could have gone very differently if my Lord made his charge into the Rhaphodons. He probably wouldn’t have killed them but he would have at least been safe for a turn or two and I could have got him into a better position to try and get the Carnosaur.

It was a good game though and it was nice to get back into ninth age with a head scratcher of a game with lots of complex movement going on, from my opponent at least. Onto Game 2.

It's great to see you writing more reports! Thank you, they are always an excellent read. Playing against such a SA list will always be difficult, but I think there's a couple of things that might have helped:
- Getting Swarm of Insects: while the Carnosaur has a 3+ save and R6, throw enough insects at him and some wounds will go through. Then even a charge from the Pegasus Knights may finish him off.

- Using the hill you had in your deployment zone: it is the perfect zoning tool, since it doubles your chances of making a long charge. I'd have placed the Aspirants there and made sure that the Ramphodons had nowhere to land with their Vanguard + fly move. It was a way to pin down the entire left flank, I believe.

You're definitely right about Swarm of Insectes, i just normally only take it if they're packing Warmachines and forget how damaging it can be to monsters. It would have helped against the Carnosaur, especially after he took those 2 two wounds from Break the Spirit.

Knights Aspirant already have rerolls to their charge range thanks to Impetuous so they might have been better on the right flank and the Knights of the Realm could have taken the hill and the left flank. I definitely could have handled the Rhamphodons better though i let them get behind me far too easily!